All you need to do with burns is run cold water (from the tap, not the fridge) over them as long as you can. Everything else you did was fine, there’s no need to cover it unless it’s somewhere you tend to hit on things.
All you need to do with burns is run cold water (from the tap, not the fridge) over them as long as you can. Everything else you did was fine, there’s no need to cover it unless it’s somewhere you tend to hit on things.
All you need to do with burns is run cold water (from the tap, not the fridge) over them as long as you can. Everything else you did was fine, there’s no need to cover it unless it’s somewhere you tend to hit on things.
However, once the blister has broken, it would not hurt to apply Neosporin™ (generic: Triple Antibiotic) to reduce the possibilty of infection. Depending on where the blister is and how likely you are to keep bumping and irritating it, you might want to check out your local pharmacy for “wet” bandages with names like “new” skin. They will protect the wound without irritating it. However, as AndrewT noted, a burn with no broken skin cannot actually be treated with anything and applying bandages can irritate the wound. Simply running cold, (presumably clean), tap water to reduce the pain and limit the damage, followed by letting the wound heal on its own is the best policy.
The cold water isn’t just to ease the pain. It removes the heat from the burn and prevents further damage. Rememeber that a burn is basically a big mess of boiling water and hot fat inside your body. Cooling it down as fast aspossible is a real good idea.
I’m too sleepy to find a cite right now but tannic acid (heavily present in tea) is a natural antibiotic, and, IIRC, soothes pain. In any case, a cold wet teabag will provide a cooling effect and there’s nothing else I know of you can apply directly to a burn (other than other cold things) that will provide any relief or speed healing. (other than Neosporin, which ISN’T generic, but any generic triple antibiotic will do)
Don’t put ice on it though. I’ve heard the tip about tea bags, too, though I can’t recall whether it was from a reliable source or not.
In my experience, burns hurt a LOT while healing. Watch the wound carefully. I am not a doctor or other medical professional, and the last time I took first aid training was quite a few years ago.
The blister suggests that the burn is a 2nd degree burn…there should be no scar…keeping an open wound clean, however, is good policy for 2nd degree burns.
A clean dressing or loose dressing is helpful to keep the bad bugs away but generally unnecessary for a wound such as yours.
Yes, to the tea…it does contain tannic acid which relieves the pain somewhat and is not an urban legend…references? I am a licensed MD.
It seems pretty unlikely that you could manage to get yourself to cold water before the heat had dissipated by itself. Sounds like quite a minor burn. Of course a major injury would be the same thing on my wrist. What makes you think you did anything wrong? It’s not infected and the arm didn’t fall off.
What about if the tap in question pulls from a well? I filter our water mightily (and expensively, dammit) but there’s still some iron oxide in our tap water.
Iron oxide won’t do any damage. Unless your water is contaminated with pathogens or contains a lot (an I mean a lot) of sulfur or salt you’re right to use it on burns.
Sixty years ago, I wonder if one could have found any reputable medical research supporting the old wives’ tale that a poultice of mouldy bread helps a wound heal faster.
